"You look like a stupid American." I know.

Over the weekend, I went to a town called Cuenca with my friends Kristin and Maike. I took Friday off of school (it's not like I'm doing anything anyways), and we took a bus on Thursday night. EIGHT AND A HALF FREEZING HOURS LATER (at least the nice man next to me let me share his blanket with him) we arrived in Cuenca. It was 6:30 in the morning, and we didn't know what to do. What if our hostel turns us away? We had nothing to worry about. They made us breakfast and had our room cleaned first, so we just waited around for about an hour freezing to death.

After showering and warming up, we decided to go on a double decker bus tour around Cuenca. It lasted about an hour and 45 minutes. This is why:



The traffic was bumper to bumper, because apparently they are re-constructing one of the main roads in the town. And by re-constructing, I mean ZERO TRAFFIC on this road where the bricks were all torn up and it is just MUD. Our hostel was on the corner of this road and to get in we had to walk through mud and walk over planks of wood. It was a little ridiculous.

The power lines in Ecuador are REALLY low, so every once in a while on this double decker bus, a siren would go off, and that's the signal for DUCK (otherwise you're going to get decapitated by a power line). So for the rest of the tour, I was afraid to look at what was around me because I didn't want to get offed by a power line, so I missed a lot of the town, I think. That's ok, I'm over it.

There is a hat store in Cuenca that is famous for their "Panama hats". The hats are all hand-made, and it was pretty neat, especially because Maike LOVED it. She's going to the Galapagos next week, so she needed a hat for the Galapagos. We were trying on hats like crazy, and Maike ended up getting two. We went back again on Saturday because she decided that she was going to get one for her grandpa and one for her best friend. Because I have such a fat head, I only put (a select few that actually FIT) the hats on my head and laughed at myself. Man, did I look ridiculous!

On Friday night, we discovered that there is NO night life in Cuenca, at least not anywhere near where we were staying. So we decided to go to the movies, which was pointed out during the bus tour. We took a taxi to the movie theater. They only had THREE movies playing, none of which we were wild about seeing. So we go to another movie theater. We got there at 6:25. We saw that Sex and the City 2 started at 6, so we decided to see it anyways. When we got to the ticket counter, there were three ANNOYING girls working. We asked them a question, and they were talking behind the glass, and I said, "We can't hear you." So they all start giggling, and tell us that no, we can't see that movie anymore because we're too late, and then they turned off the microphone and were talking and giggling behind the stupid glass. We were SO annoyed. So we left.

Saturday we went to Incan ruins - a 2.5 hour bus ride from Cuenca. It was COLD again on Saturday, but this wasn't going to stop us. On the way, our bus hit a truck. Really? It was ridiculous. Apparently the truck didn't yield to the bus, so the bus hit it. We were able to drive away, and no one was hurt, but REALLY Ecuador? We ended up just laughing about it, and me, being the tourist that I am, took a picture of the damage.



See? No harm done. But the bus driver was PISSED, and so were we, because we had no idea how much further we were going to be able to go. When we FINALLY arrived at the ruins, it was MUDDY. It had rained there all the previous day, so it was disgusting. We joined a group with two tour guides. Who were ten years old. They were freezing too, and despite their age, they were good at their jobs. I asked to take a picture with them, and they looked at me like I was crazy, but I'm beyond caring.

After the tour, the little girls said, "If you want to see the face of Inca in a mountain, follow us!" Maike and Kristin decided not to, but I went along. And it was a mistake. The group of 4 of us that went had to hike down a mountain, and it was MUDDY. I was slipping and sliding ALL OVER the place. And of course there is NOTHING to hold on to. About halfway down, guess what! It started POURING rain. That made climbing down this mountain WORSE. When we FINALLY got to the face (which wasn't that impressive, especially since the picture I took looks exactly like the postcard that Maike bought), I took ONE picture, and then I said, "Alright, I'm going to climb back up!" and left the group.

When I FINALLY got back to the top (after falling once - good thing that I was by myself!!!), I was SOAKING wet. I squeezed out my hair, and it was like I just got out of the shower.



I was freezing. I couldn't take a 2.5 hour bus ride back to Cuenca like this. So, I decided to buy a new coat. And a scarf. And I looked like an idiot. As Maike said, "Sara, I can't tell you apart from the Ecuadorians!!" HA Good one, Maike.



I wore that coat for the rest of the day, because my fleece just wouldn't dry. So we walked around town, we went back to the Panama hat store, and we ate dinner. Every time I saw my reflection, I started laughing. At one point, Kristin was walking behind me and she said, "Sara, I just can't take you seriously in that jacket." Wherever we went, I got stared at. And then Maike said, "You look like a stupid American." I know, Maike, I know. We even went back to the movie theater in time to see the 6:00 show of Sex and they City. And I looked like an idiot there too. At least I was warm. Thank GOD my American fleece, which ironically made me look LESS American, was dry on Sunday.

On Sunday, I woke up to a surprise phone call from my good friend Diego. Happy Birthday!!!!! And what a wonderful birthday it was. We took a bus to a town called Chordeleg. This is a cute little town where they sell all sorts of JEWELRY. We. went. nuts. The necklaces, rings, and earrings were all soooo pretty. I FINALLY found a gift for my wonderful mother (You're welcome!! And I didn't use your credit card to buy it!!). While I was on the bus there, my grandma Ann called me, and I got to talk to Aunt Jane and Aunt Jeanette as well, until I was too far into the stupid mountains and lost service. Then, when I was shopping, home called, and I got to talk to Mom, Dad, Jenna, and Tay. When I told Jenna where I was, her first question? "Did you buy me something?" Happy Birthday, Sar. And no, I didn't. But I still love you.

After a few hours, we took a bus back to Cuenca, and hung around town for awhile. And by hung around I mean sat on a bench trying to think of something to do. In Ecuador, EVERYTHING is closed on Sundays. So we sat. And then we decided to eat, even though we weren't hungry. We found a SKETCHY pizza place. It was SO weird. The tables were paintings, and on one was a painting of a naked woman (buen provecho!!), and then on a painting behind us was a naked woman being snarled at by a dog. I'm pretty sure that some major drug deals go on there. Oh, and, I ordered a Fanta to drink, and a guy left the restaurant, and then came back with a Fanta. If you didn't have Fanta, you could have just told me! I would have gotten something else. The pizza was ok... We ate really fast and then got the heck out of there.

I flew back to Quito last night instead of taking the bus with Maike and Kristin because I had to teach this morning. But surprise! My students didn't show up! So I've been sitting doing nothing, again, and it looks like that's how it's going to be for the rest of the week. Greeeeeeeeat.

Until next time,
Sara the American tourist.

"In case of an emergency, you will be the last ones off the plane."

All of June has been absolutely freezing. I realize that I live in the mountains, but my GOD I should not be freezing on the equator!! I don't mean freezing in the sense that it's usually 90 degrees, and now it's dropped down to 80. I mean freezing as in I see my breath ALL DAY LONG (not just in the mornings), and I wear a hat and scarf. Seriously? This is ridiculous. And of course, heating doesn't exist in this country, so I've started sleeping with a hooded sweatshirt on.

The school is all outdoors (the hallways and things), so the school is NEVER warm either. It's horrible. What makes it even worse is the other teachers. They're always telling me, "Sara, the weather isn't usually like this! It's usually very sunny at this time of year." Great. I've come at the most inconvenient time. I'm considering purchasing a space heater and putting it under my desk - either that, or a snuggie (Peter was telling me that the women at his office do this - thank you Breakthrough Fuel).

To warm up, Kristin, Marty, and I decided to go to the beach for the weekend. It was warm there. Very MUGGY and very BUGGY. But guess what - there was not a shred of sunlight the entire weekend. What is WRONG with this country?! I flew both ways (I would rather pay a little more to take a 30 minute flight than pay a little less and sit on a bus for nearly TEN hours), so that was really great. I couldn't take the bus with Marty and Kristin because they left on Thursday, and I still had to teach on Friday.

When I got on my plane to go to Manta (the beach), I found that I was seated in an Emergency Exit row. I've sat in an Emergency Exit row only once before, but I told the flight attendant that I could handle it. I only really told her because (A) it was only a half hour flight, so what could REALLY go wrong, and (B) there was a strapping lad sitting next to me that I figured would take charge.

As the flight attendant was giving us a mini-rundown in English (the strapping lad spoke English very eloquently), she was explaining how to lift the latch and push the door, blah blah blah, and her final statement was: "In case of an emergency, you will be the last ones out of the plane." Excuse me? I just kind of stared at her waiting for her to say, "HA! JUST KIDDING!!", but she walked away. So here I am, sitting by the window thinking several things.

- I'm by the window, and I have to be the LAST one out?
- Isn't it in the flight attendants' job description to make sure everyone is safely out of the flaming, plummeting aircraft?
- I should have watched Lost before I got onto this plane to review the protocol on how to survive a plane crash.
- Shoot. Are we flying over water or land?
- HOW am I supposed to be the last one out of this plane when I'm SURE that there will be a STAMPEDE towards the Emergency Exit row when smoke starts coming out of the engines.

The man next to me seemed to sense my confusion. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't worry. If this plane is going down, you and I will be the FIRST ones out of this window." Well thank GOD. Do you know what the irony of the situation is? The SAME THING happened to me the last time I was in an Emergency Exit row. I've made the executive decision that the next time I'm in this blasted row, I will say that I'm not comfortable being a hero and having to leave the plane last. Please move me.

When I landed safely in Manta, I met Kristin and Marty at the hotel. We went out for dinner and then went out to a few bars (it wasn't really a happening place), and headed to bed around midnight. Fine with me! I was REALLY drowsy and groggy from the Dramamine that I had to take for my plane ride. I fell asleep before the lights were off.

On Saturday, we woke up to a muggy, humid day that was overcast. We went to the beach anyways. One thing that KILLS me down here is the street vendors. I was wearing sunglasses. Despite this fact, the street vendors that had sunglasses kept coming up to me and shoving their sunglasses in my face. No, thanks, I'm WEARING some. And then, if you want to look at something, the street vendors come right up next to you and say, "Beautiful bracelets and necklaces" or whatever you're looking at, and then try to put the stuff on you. You know what? DON'T TOUCH ME.

And then, there was the hat man. We were eating at a restaurant on the beach, and this man comes up with sun hats. I don't usually wear sun hats because I have a fat head, but also because I look like an idiot in them. But these were pretty, and I could feel the part of my hair already getting burned. So I asked him how much it cost. Fifteen dollars? I don't think so. How about three? The guys says NO WAY and walks away.

ALL DAY LONG I kept seeing this hat man, and every time I saw him, I would hold up three fingers, and he would shake his head and keep walking. Kristin and I were sitting on the beach, and I saw him again, and he had reduced his price to ten. So, I waved him over. I told him five. He said ten. I told him six. He said ten. I told him seven. He said ten. I told him eight, and finally he said something else: "I buy these hand-made hats for eight dollars. If I sell it to you for eight dollars, then how am I going to buy my clothes? Buy my food? Feed my children?" And this man looked SO sad, that I put my head down and said, "NINE dollars". And I bought that damn hat. And I wore it ALL weekend. My nine dollar hat.

On Sunday, it was misting, so we decided to go to a different beach to eat lunch. The food was good, and the place was cute. Until. I. saw. a. RAT. It was about ten feet from where I was sitting, and I was FLIPPING out. REALLY ECUADOR??? RATS at a restaurant. This whole country should be shut down. It was disgusting.

During our time at the beach, another street vendor that kept on coming back was selling DVDs for a dollar. We asked if they were in English. He assured us they were. We bought: The Prince of Persia, Sex and the City 2, Toy Story 3, and Public Enemies. Public Enemies was the only one in English. GREAT. We discovered this on Sunday afternoon when it was raining, and our flight back wasn't until 8:15PM. So we watched HBO in English. What a let-down.

The flight back didn't leave until 45 minutes after the designated departure time. So we waited 45 minutes for a 30 minute flight. Cool. All in all, it was a relaxing weekend (besides the heart attack I had after seeing the rat), and at least I didn't get sunburned!!

This week school has been SLOW and BORING. I don't understand why the administration makes us come in on these nothing days. The students who didn't pass the year have supplementary review and then exams. I have three 1.5 hour classes with TWO kids. I feel bad for them, because they really do know their stuff, but they were just LAZY during the school year. So I've been spending my days reading, sending massive amounts of emails, on Facebook, on cnn.com, on perezhilton.com, and on people.com. If you need to know any trash on celebrities, please, email me.

This weekend I'm taking another trip with Kristin and Maike (the girl who cried with me in Baños). We're going to a city called Cuenca, and I'm excited about it! We're taking a bus there on Thursday night (I'm taking Friday off, because I'm soooooo busy) that will take TEN to TWELVE hours - please kill me. And then I'm flying back on Sunday night instead of taking a bus because I need to teach on Monday morning. It should be a good time!

Until next time,
Sara the Sucker - but looking oh, so stylish in my nine dollar hat.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Sara, do you like fútbol?"
- I'm indifferent.
"Why are you in South America if you don't like fútbol?"
- ... I didn't say that I don't like it. I said that I'm indifferent. It's fine.
"If you are in South America, you need to learn to like fútbol.

The World Cup. The big kahuna of soccer. A four week long extravaganza. Hot. Dog. I am living in a South American country. I think that the kids here are born with soccer cleats on. Great.

June 11 the World Cup started (an event that occurs every 2 years, but the men and women switch off, so the Men's World Cup is every 4 years - thank you Wikipedia), and that was the last day of exams for the kids. I thought that some of the students and teachers might go into cardiac arrest because they had to miss a couple of the soccer games because of the HORRID school that would not CANCEL classes for such an IMPORTANT sporting event (that I embarrassingly know NOTHING about).

The school set up a projector in the auditorium so that no one has to miss anything. Teachers go down and watch while they have free periods. Students watch during their breaks. On Monday, the students were supposed to come to school to be able to review their exams. I found out on Monday morning that surprise! I have to teach!! What? So, after a 20 minute exam review, I let the kids go outside and play soccer, or if a game was on, we went down to the auditorium to watch. Monday marked three days in a row of me watching soccer games. You might as well call me a fanatic.

Two songs that I now have memorized are (1) the South African National Anthem and (2) Shakira's "Waka Waka". Both are on TV or the radio ALL THE TIME down here. If you haven't seen the music video to "Waka Waka" click here to view it. You'll appreciate the following conversation a LOT more if you watch the video... This conversation took place with one of my students yesterday:

Anita: Teacher, don't you love "Waka Waka"?
Teacher: Yeah, it's pretty good.
Anita: Teacher, do you know the dance???!!!
Teacher: Teacher doesn't know how to dance.
Anita: I'll show you!
Teacher: Don't bother.

They laugh at me enough. I will NOT put myself in the position of dancing (or trying to dance) in front of them. They're born with soccer cleats on their feet AND hips that don't lie.

On Saturday, my friend Diego invited me to watch the USA vs. England game with him, his wife, and his niece. I thought that MAYBE since I was in South America, I should probably TRY (or at least pretend) to get a little bit into this sport. So we shoveled lunch into our mouths (Literally. Everyone kept looking at their phones and weas like "GET THE DESSERT! IT'S 1:25!!!"), and at 1:30 we were sitting on the couch tuned in. I've got an alright grasp of this game - I know what a yellow card means, I know what a red card means, and I know when to gasp, scream, or throw my hands into the air. When the game ended with a tie, I had to wait until Monday to consult a teacher who knows I know nothing to find out what a tie means.


Me, Maria Cristina, and Maria Inez - Diego was taking the picture. Don't I look SO excited to be watching the World Cup?! ...

Later on Saturday night, I went with Diego, his wife, and niece to the movies. We saw the Prince of Persia (subtitled - thank God). At the movie theater, I saw three of my students. They didn't know what to do with themselves.

Students: Teacher!!! What are YOU doing here??
Sara: ... I'm going to a movie. What are you doing?

I'm convinced that they think I have no life outside of school, which is kind of true, but hey, I can pretend :)

Sunday I spent the day with my host family. Always a good time with them. When I talked to them to plan when I would go over to their house, we arranged for 8:30 on Sunday morning. I repeated it about 5 times just to be sure, because I'm still not great on the phone. So, I wake up, drag myself out of my bed and get ready, and flag down a taxi. I arrived at 8:30 on the dot. I called. The phone rang. And rang. And RANG.

When Pame (my host sister) FINALLY picked up, she said, "Sara, we're still in bed!" Ummmmmm, what? I was immediately thinking that I messed up. Ocho y media (8:30) COULD sound like once y media (11:30) right? Shoot. Lupe (my host mom) finally let me in, wearing her robe and slippers, and said, "Sara, what time is it?!" I told her that it was now 8:40. She gasps. "WE SLEPT TOO LATE! WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!!!!!" And she hustled back into the apartment building.

Getting back into the house, Lupe immediately got on the phone with Aunt Maria Elena, followed by Aunt Rosita, followed by Grandma telling them all that her and Pame had overslept, that I came and woke them up, and that they were going to hurry up and get ready to go. I sat on the couch this entire time wondering one thing: WHERE were we in such a rush to go?

We left the house at 9:50 and got into the car. So much for rushing. Right when I opened the car door, I almost choked because it smelled so badly of the gas that is used in the house. They had a tank of this gas in the backseat of their car. They took it out, but every time we were in the car (which was a lot) I thought that we MIGHT blow up at any second. It was a very stressful car ride. Thank GOD no one smokes.

After driving around for about 10 minutes with Lupe getting ever more frustrated saying, "UGH THIS street is closed too!" I figured out where we were in such a rush to go: cousin Alberto and cousin Santiago Jose were running in a race, and we had to see them to cheer them on. We ended up parking the car back in the garage, and walked 1 block to where the race was. Why we didn't do this right away, I have NO idea, but we made it there before Santiago Jose and Alberto did, so at least we got to cheer for them!

We then went to the Olympic Stadium to see the cousins after the race. This was just a dumb idea. We parked, walked for 6 blocks, waited, waited, waited, spotted ONE of the cousins, congratulated him, and left. DUMB. We then went to church and spent the rest of the day at Aunt Maria Elena's house so that we could watch the Germany vs. Australia match (Germany won EASILY - even I could see this - and I felt bad for those poor Australians).

After the match, we sat at the kitchen table and TALKED about the match for an hour and sixteen minutes - almost as long as the game itself!! Grandma FINALLY stood up (VERY slowly, I might add) and was ready to go to the grocery store. It's not like she gets up and goes in - she sits in the car the whole time. I was wondering what she thinks about when she's in the car by herself ALL THE TIME. Maybe she just sleeps? I'm not sure.

Until next time,
Sara the Soccer Fanatic.

School's out for the summaaaaaah!

... Almost. But I AM done teaching regular classes.

Two weeks ago today, my mom's mom passed away, so I booked a ticket and flew back to the US to be with my family. Before continuing, I'd like to thank everyone for their support and condolences. My entire family really appreciates it. Despite the circumstances, it was good to be back home with my family. I realized that it was the first time that all 7 of us had been home since Christmas. I guess that's what happens when everyone grows up.

I flew out of Quito on a Saturday, but on Friday I prepared everything for the upcoming week of school that I would be missing. My boss was (and still is!) AMAZING, and he covered all of my classes for me. It was an easy week to miss, because it was the last of three review weeks before the kids had exams.

During my time as a teacher, I've really questioned how much the kids actually like me. I mean, I'm mean to them. While I was gone, however, I got an email from a student named Diego telling me (in pretty good English, I might add) that he hoped I would return soon and that I was the best teacher that he had ever had. Maybe it's because I give them candy. But whatever, it still made me feel good.

Upon my return, I found out that I had missed the last week of regular classes. This made me kind of sad, just because I realized that I would never see the kids together as their classes again. I even brought them candy (Smarties) back from the US! But I see them around in the halls all the time, so I just keep a pocket full of Smarties.

The way finals week works at this school is messed up. The students have two periods of exams: 7:40-8:40, and then again from 9-10. After that, if they have permission, they get to leave. The poor kids who didn't get a note from their parents have to just bum around the school all day. All of the novenos had their English exam Wednesday morning at 7:40, so now I'm done. On Tuesday I didn't do ANYTHING - well, actually I played Line-Up on my iPod Touch, and beat my high score 3 times. Wednesday, I gave the test to my kids, and then I graded them. I was done by 10. So now I've been sending random one-line emails, playing Line-Up (beat my high score again!), and surfing the internet, which consists of surfing between about 5 sites, since I don't actually know how to surf the internet.

When I was grading one of my kids' tests, a boy's who has given me trouble since day 1, I found a nice note at the bottom: an apology for being so bad in my class, and then he thanked me for being a good teacher. Well. I'm better than I thought I was. While I was home, I went to the BFHS graduation and talked to my high school English teacher, Mr. Lawton.

Lawton: What have you been up to?
Sara: I'm an English teacher! In Ecuador!
Lawton: How did THAT happen?

My thoughts exactly. My students, however, are doing a good job of boosting my confidence.

Today is the last day that the kids are in school. I've been breaking the news to them that I won't be returning next year. The school offered me a position for the entire school year, but I decided that I don't want to stay here for another full year. My original flight home from when I booked my flight to come here in January is August 3, so I'm going to work at the school's summer camp in July, and then I'll be flying home and STAYING home in August. I'm feeling very bittersweet about the whole thing, especially after seeing how my students are reacting to it today.

As we were taking pictures and I was giving them all hugs, the students kept telling me how much they are going to miss me, and that I'm the best teacher that they've ever had. THIS I doubt, but again, they're making me feel good. And sad. In all honesty, I've had some REALLY horrible days here (but I've had a lot of good ones to make up for it), and I didn't think that I'd have a hard time saying bye to these kids. The reality of the situation is really different. I even found myself getting attached to the kids that were HORRIBLE for me during the year. We all know that I'm emotional, but I really thought I wouldn't be in this situation. Looks like I was only trying to kid myself!


My 9A students. 12 boys and only 7 girls! Mateo, who looks like Chewbacca :) is in this class.


My 9B students. There are 19 of them, and they are WILD. My wildest class hands-down.


My 9C students. This class is convinced they were my best class. I always told them, "It depends on the day." David is in this class... Can you pick him out?

Now that the World Cup is going on, everyone's been OBSESSED with soccer. I keep telling everyone I'm indifferent about the sport, but I AM going to go to Diego's house to watch the game with his family. Tomorrow I'm FINALLY going to unpack my suitcase from my return trip, and then on Sunday I'm going to a marathon with my host family to cheer on a few of my host cousins. I hope it's warm out, because it's been COLD here the last week!

Until next time,
Sara the Sap.

"I'm sorry, but a slide made of ROCKS is NOT fun."

Before telling about my intense weekend a couple of weekends ago, I'd like to apologize for not posting in SO long! Life has been abnormally busy for me lately, but I thought I'd take a minute (it actually takes longer than a minute...) to write about the intense weekend that I've told so many people about in person.

The weekend before USA Memorial Day weekend, I found myself face to face with an Ecuadorian three day weekend that is actually very similar to Memorial Day. I emailed my friend Kristin - the only other person in my TESOL course that stayed in Quito - and we decided to take a trip. We originally wanted to go to the coast so that we could have three VERY relaxing days at the beach, but that didn't work out. The school that Kristin works at was having a trip to a town called Baños, so we decided to hop on that 3.5 hour bus ride. A lot of my co-workers had been telling me to visit Baños, so I figured that I should when I had the opportunity.

The bus ride from Quito to Baños was HORRIBLE. The leader of the trip brought along her little dog named Bob. This name was enough to annoy me. I know I'm horrible. I have NO idea what kind of dog it is, but it's one of those dogs that looks like a puppy forever. Somehow, though I tried to avoid it, I ended up in the back row of the bus with Kristin on one side, and the DOG two seats away from my other side. Three and a half hours and THREE DOG VOMITS later (yes, I gagged), we FINALLY arrived in Baños.

One thing about Ecuador that kills me is the disorganization of the ENTIRE country. I mean, in all honesty, I don't know how the country hasn't burned down yet. When we got off of the bus, no one (there was a group of 17 of us) had any idea what we were doing, so we just stood at the bus terminal like a bunch of idiots - something that I find myself doing too often in Ecuador.

When we FINALLY got organized, we ate lunch and got a tour of the small, very touristy town of Baños from a girl about my age named Natalia. She is what I would describe as a firecracker: you NEVER know what she is going to say next, and item numero uno on her agenda is to have a good time. Actually, that's the ONLY item on her agenda.

We made our way to a huge bridge over a raging river (Ok, not RAGING, but there were a LOT of rocks at the bottom) and encounter activity #1: bridge swinging. It's not bungee jumping, but you are harnessed onto a rope that doesn't look like it's tied safely, and you literally jump off the side of the bridge and swing back and forth over the river. VERY scary. I didn't do it, but Kristin and my new friend Marty (a 48 year old man who moved to Quito after losing his job in the USA) did. I was almost in tears just watching them. I DID hike down the side of the valley that the river went through and walked over yet ANOTHER Indiana Jones bridge. Kristin commented on it too, so I'm not the only one! This one was actually over a river, but dang, no alligators, so still the scene was not QUITE right.

Later that night, we went to the natural hot springs that Baños is really famous for. The Ecuadorians transformed these hot springs into a tourist trap. It was not at ALL what I was imagining (hot springs in the middle of nowhere), but it was actually pools that were filled with the natural water. It was PACKED, being a holiday weekend and all, and people were body-to-body in the water. I was disgusted, so I just sat and watched, along with Kristin and Marty. The people who were in the pools didn't look the least bit relaxed anyways...

We went to a club on Saturday night, and this time I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful it was (please refer to my post from a while ago "White Girl Can't Dance" to read about my previous club experience). The group of people that I was with was great, and we just danced and danced and danced. Well. I tried.

The next morning, we all woke up early because our first actual activity was supposed to leave at 8AM. 2.5 hours later, we were on our way. Rafting. I. Was. Terrified. The previous night I had made my new friend Mario (a 50-ish year old Cuban man who is teaching in Quito to support his family in Cuba) promise that he would sit by me in the raft, along with my new German friend Maike (pronounced Micah). They both held true to their promises, which made me a very happy, although not less scared, girl.

After putting on a damp wetsuit, and shoes that reminded me of the classy Keds that Jenna and I used to LOVE, we got out of the bus and were at the river. After a brief safety/this-is-what-you're-supposed-to-do session (which included: "THIS PADDLE IS FORTY DOLLARS. IF YOU LOSE IT, YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT!!), we were in the boats being pushed off.

For the hour and a half that we were in the water, I was screaming almost non-stop, but I DID enjoy myself. Until. There are safety kayakers going around the boats making sure that everyone is safe, and I'm sitting on the edge of my raft, minding my own business, when all of a sudden, one of the kayakers comes up, grabs my life jacket, and pulls me into the river. Excuse me? So here I am, floating in the river, holding on to his kayak, and we go to a different raft. Do you know how hard it is to get back into a raft? REALLY hard. I was basically worthless. The other rafters pulled me into their boat, and I literally couldn't move during the process, so I was like a dead fish. Embarrassing.

I'm sitting in this other raft, and the guide starts yelling at me to paddle. Paddle? My paddle is in my home raft. So what does he do? Takes his foot, and pushes me BACK out of the raft. I flopped my arms enough to get myself to my home raft where they pulled me in, and I began paddling.

A few minutes after this episode, we hit a rocky patch, and I legit fell out of the raft. I was really scared (and trying not to swallow the really bad, dirty, unsafe water!!!), but I hung on to the edge of the raft, and I HELD ON TO THE DAMN PADDLE. Instead of thinking about how I might die, I was thinking, "I don't have $40 extra on this trip to spend on this paddle. I am NOT letting go." After being dragged across the bottom of the river (of course I would fall out at a shallow spot), I got pulled back into the raft. Needless to say, I didn't paddle as much after that.

After getting out of the river, we took off our wet wetsuits and changed into dry clothes (on the bus, which was awkward), and had lunch. Then, we split up into two groups: people going canyoning and people not going canyoning. I didn't even know what canyoning WAS at this point, so I got into the line of people going. MISTAKE.

We get into a van and drive to basically the middle of nowhere at the base of a REALLY steep mountain, put on our wet wetsuits (DIFFICULT), grab a helmet, get harnessed, and are told to climb UP this mountain. OHMYGOD I almost died. It was so steep that at some parts I was using my hands to climb up, I was sweating like there's no tomorrow because it was about 3 in the afternoon and I'm wearing a wetsuit, and I was thinking, "Wow, if it's this hard going up, it's going to be HELL going down." I was right.

When we FINALLY got to the top, we were at the top of a waterfall. I quickly found of what canyoning is: rock climbing down waterfalls. After seeing the first few people go, I was about ready to cry. A. I've never been rock climbing before. B. I've never been rock climbing down a waterfall before. C. They said that you need to be strong to do this. I'm almost as weak as my sister Laura.

After slipping and sliding down the first waterfall, stopping in the middle and yelling down to the guide that I CAN'T DO THIS, I finally reached the bottom. Soaking wet, shaking, and with rope-burned hands because I was holding on so tight, I noticed that we weren't REALLY at the bottom. We were in a small pool. I look at the guide and find out why we aren't at the bottom. Surprise! Three more waterfalls to go!

You know how usually when you do something once, it's easier to do the second and third times? NOT WITH THIS. In the middle of the second waterfall, I was thinking, "No one who knows me is going to believe that I did this." Of course no one had a camera because we were soaking wet and they would have been ruined. I'm telling you now that if I would have known what I was going to be doing, (1) I would NOT have signed up, and (2) I would have spent $200 on a waterproof camera.

In the middle of the third waterfall, I was literally crying. Tears were streaming down my cheeks, and all I wanted to do was crawl into a warm bed that was DRY and get OUT of this mess. I would like to add that there were two other girls, Rosalie from Holland and Maike from Germany, that were ALSO terrified to tears.

At the bottom of the third waterfall, a girl who had done this before was saying how much fun the last one is: it's a slide! I looked at her and said, "I'm sorry, but a slide made of ROCKS is NOT fun." She judged me, but oh, I was SO over caring. When I got down the slide, I was SO happy that my feet were on dry land that I was almost crying. When Rosalie, Maike, and I got to the bottom, we decided that we were happy that we had this experience, because now we know to NEVER do it again. And, to give you an idea, I asked the guide the height of the waterfalls: #1 - thirty feet. #2 - fifty feet. And #3. NINETY FEET. MY GOD.

The next morning when we woke up, Rosalie, Maike, and I couldn't MOVE (and I STILL have bruises on my body from falling out of that raft), but we hiked down a mountain to see ANOTHER waterfall anyways. Hiking down is fine, but MAN that hike up was KILLER. For the bus ride back to Quito, Kristin and I made sure to get a seat AWAY from the dog. We finally got home around 10:30PM, after the taxi driver got LOST on the way to my house. I was yelling at him in Spanish, almost crying, and really scared because I was thinking that I may be getting abducted.

On Tuesday morning at school, I still couldn't move, and my students kept asking me if I had a relaxing weekend. Relaxing? HA. I don't think I relaxed until I was in my BED in Quito. The good news is that I can now say that I've done, though not enjoyed, extreme sports. Looking back though, I think I would do rafting again...

Until next time (which will be sooner than last time!),
Sara the EXTREME.